By Annette Janka, Music & Drama Teacher
Music and Theatre
Grades 3 and 4
In November, PNA’s students in grades 3-8 will be presenting the non-musical play “Oliver Twist”, a modern adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic book. All students will be included in a scene rehearsed with their class during school. Kids interested in the lead roles which will practice after school can come to audition from 3:30-4:30 on Tuesday, September 21 for 3-4 grades, Wednesday, September 22 for 5-6 grades and Friday, September 24 for middle school.
Why do we feel that a theatrical performance has a place in the educational environment of PNA? Learning the life skills inherent in presenting a play are many. Getting up in front of others in a safe place where experimentation is encouraged and received with a positive response helps kids to gain self-confidence. The collaboration of actors working together on a scene builds teamwork and trust. Speaking the lines of a script helps build vocabulary, articulation, facial expression, and body language which make them better communicators for their lifetime. Memorization, concentration, imagination, and problem solving are all integral to the theatrical experience.
In the past three weeks since school has started, the third and fourth grade classes have been traveling through time with a historic overview of 20th century Broadway musical theatre. (grades 5-8 will begin September 13.) They have been watching clips, dancing the steps, trying the dialogue, and being touched by the stories. We have learned about the conflict between the farmers and the cattle ranchers during westward expansion in “Oklahoma”, child labor laws and the strikes of the working classes in “Newsies”, caring and acceptance of physical disabilities in “Phantom of the Opera”, and how Hitler’s coming to power caused a family to risk climbing the Alps to escape in “The Sound of Music, among others.
Theatre doesn’t let you just watch from the outside. When you try to play a role, theatre offers you the unique opportunity to get inside and be the character, empathize with their situation, feel their emotions, and understand the where and why of the historical context.
And, playing in a play is just, well, fun!
